Patriots Position Breakdown: Tight End Group Needs Youthful Jolt

Welcome to Patriots Position Breakdown, a 10-part series on NESN.com where we dive deep into each of New England’s position groups prior to the start of training camp.

The Patriots still haven’t found “success” at the tight end position since Rob Gronkowski announced his (first) retirement in 2019.

Hunter Henry deserves his share of the credit for making this unit palatable, but outside of his inconsistent contributions you’re looking at guys like Ben Watson, Matt LaCosse, Ryan Izzo, Devin Asiasi, Jonnu Smith and Pharaoh Brown trying — and mostly failing — to pick up the slack. Henry is a reliable red-zone target, who seems to build chemistry with every quarterback he plays with. He is not someone who will transform your passing offense and help elevate those around him for prolonged periods, though.

New England did a decent job at trying to build some sort of depth at the position in 2024, but it remains to be seen if any of the new additions can help a unit that hasn’t recorded 900 yards in a season since 2017.

Roster Overview

– Hunter Henry
– Austin Hooper
– Jaheim Bell
– La’Michael Pettway
– Mitchell Wilcox
– Jacob Warren

Henry, as we said, is a decent enough starting option.

New England probably needs more than that, though, especially if it intends on letting Alex Van Pelt deploy an offense similar to what he did with the Cleveland Browns. Hooper was clearly signed to be that guy in two-tight end groupings, as his knowledge of the system after previously playing in it for a couple of seasons should allow the Patriots to hit the ground running.

Henry and Hooper are both approaching the wrong side of 30, and each have a ton of miles on their bodies entering a season they’re both looking to prove they have enough in the tank to help this offense make huge strides. It’s a risky proposition counting on them to do it.

What’s going on beyond that?

Bell is a seventh-round pick, and although he’s looked solid in our limited exposure to him during organized team activities, he can’t be expected to be more than a complimentary piece at this point in his development. Pettway actually looked like the No. 3 option during the spring, but he can be grouped in with Wilcox and Warren as players who will likely only make the roster through special teams.

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Biggest Question(s)

– Can you continue to rely on Hunter Henry?
Henry has been the same guy since he arrived to New England. He’ll score a decent amount, but his role in the middle of the field is that of a security blanket — commendable but nothing more since he just got re-upped on a three-year, $27 million deal.

If you didn’t know, that’s a decrease from his previous salary, which happened for a reason.

The Patriots will eventually need more from their top tight end, and they’ll likely have an opportunity to upgrade prior to the expiration of Henry’s contract. He’ll do the trick for one, maybe two more seasons, but a decision will soon have to be made.

— Is Jaheim Bell even a tight end?
The Patriots clearly view Bell as someone who can contribute, but will it be on special teams, in the backfield, as a third tight end or a mixture of all three?

Bell didn’t start playing inline until his final season at Florida State, originally serving as a running back during his first few seasons at South Carolina. He’s still learning how to play, and while guys like Jakobi Meyers and Julian Edelman had success adapting at the NFL level, there’s a much larger list of guys who couldn’t.

Grade

– C

It’s a decent group in terms of depth, but the high-end talent just isn’t there. The Patriots might no longer view tight end as a spot in which they need a dynamic player who can be equally effective blocking and receiving, it’s just clear they don’t currently have that.